“How many tanks do you think we’ll need, Kirito-kun…?”
It was Asuna that broke the deathly silence that settled upon the group after experiencing the aura of hopelessness resulting from the apparent impossibility of the current boss at hand. They were all currently resting in the safe area that Kirito and the others had previously used as a picnic spot. He sighed as he surmised, “We’ll probably need an entire party of tanks, judging from the size of that weapon…”
“We would also need to have a party who can parry; we can’t just force the tanks to absorb all of the damage,” Shiranami suggested.
Nautilus nodded. “Agreed. We would also need several parties with pure DPS ability; I don’t think I need to say this but it looks impressively well-built.”
“A party of healers too,” Yuna interjected.
“Unnecessary, I’d say,” Shiranami vetoed. “You, Rain, and I are the only ones with a completed «Chant» skill. It’d be much easier to have another party take on another role since the three of us can make do.”
“You guys really need to think outside the box; this thing is definitely gonna have some kinda trap,” Suzaku chimed in from his seated position a tad ways away from the rest. “We’re nearing the final quarter; there’s no way in good conscience can you say we can treat this like we’ve done the other raids.” As he said this, he began fiddling through his inventory, checking through his equipment before swapping out his currently equipped items for a set that lowered his defense but increased his stealth.
Kirito raised an eyebrow. “I trust your judgement, bro, but I have some questions about your choice of kit…”
“Not to worry, Kirito-san,” Suzaku’s partner said. “He may be a blockhead but he’s actually really smart when it comes to pegging his own strengths and weaknesses.”
“Geez, you sure know how to be honest…” Suzaku smiled awkwardly as he fixed his cloak, a hood of midnight obstructing his face completely with the tattered ends truly evoking a sense of midnight; truly, he deserved his epithet of Shadow-Clad Raven.
“Well, alright then, if you insist that much…” Kirito was honestly still skeptical but he also knew of Suzaku’s strengths so he left it at that. Instead, he turned to Shiranami and gently smacked her on the back. “I’m counting on your support, Shiranami. Of course, I count you among that as well, Yuna.”
Being subject to Kirito’s stare, Yuna’s eyes darted elsewhere as she blushed and nodded, “Okay.” Nautilus immediately glared at Kirito and had to consciously force himself to not draw his weapon in pure jealousy. He already knows deep down that Yuna only has eyes for him but she always can’t help but color her face red whenever Kirito talks to her; as a man, his girl being all shy around a man that isn’t him grates on him.
Of course, Kirito smoothly ignored the death stare Nautilus was giving him as he dragged himself up from his seated cross-legged position. He stretched a few times as he declared, “Alright, let’s head back and organize a raid party. I’m sure you’ll need to report to your bosses.”
“Boss,” Asuna corrected. “I’m technically a boss here too considering that I’m the second-in-command.”
“Yes, yes, Asuna-san,” Kazuto shrugged. “Sorry, I forgot.”
Asuna rolled her eyes as she stood up. “Let’s get going. We should be able to clear this floor before the daylight fades.”
While Nirrnir had kept her mouth shut, she too stood up alongside everyone else to follow the others. “Wait,” she said, focusing her supernatural sight in a single direction. “Is that…?” She scratched her blonde hair as she sighed. “Welp, this is going to be a headache.”
A few moments later, the safe area’s barrier rippled before ejecting about ten to twenty players in full armor. True to Nirrnir’s words, Kirito groaned internally as he recognized the emblem of the flag when the red-sashed man in the front yelled, “Troop, halt!” The reverberation that followed afterward could only be described as a massive jaw snapping shut what with the simultaneous clacking of metal boots. All the other armored men collapsed to the ground, clearly exhausted, allowing Kirito to ask, “You’re the «Aincrad Liberation Force», aren’t you?”
“You speak the truth, fellow player,” the head player stated as he removed his helmet and tucked it under his armpit. “My name is Corvatz. I am the first commander of the «Aincrad Liberation Force», serving directly under Sir Thinker. It may be rude of me to ask you this but have you good sirs and ma’ams discovered the boss room yet?”
Kirito looked at the others who all honestly had the same reaction of indifference; it wasn’t like they should hide the fact when they were going to reveal it to the masses anyway. “Yes, we have, we were about to head back to discuss and plan for the boss raid.”
“No need for that, good sir,” he replied, his Spanish accent shoving its way through his relatively perfect Japanese. “We of the ALF shall defeat this boss alone.”
Asuna shook her head. “You can’t do that, sir! The boss this time around is not a simple one!”
“So they say for every boss,” he replied. “But we have prevailed through them all!”
“I’m afraid it won’t be the same this time around,” Kirito rebuked. “This boss is unlike other bosses; it’s a blue-eyed demon!”
Corvatz raised an eyebrow. “Oh? This might be interesting. Alright, men, get up! We are going on an expedition!”
Immediately, complaints arose. “Aw, come on!”
“Are you serious?”
“You’re going to kill us before we get to the boss room to quite possibly actually die!”
“Dumbass, actually look at your men! Is your helmet on too tight or are you just an idiot?” Suzaku yelled. “They're gonna be cannon fodder at best against that thing!” The young boy stood and expressed his sentiments, taking a surprisingly forward stance against them; he even contemplated drawing his sword to threaten them. After all, to Suzaku, clearing SAO didn't matter much when there was no one left for the journey back.
Nautilus nodded along with Suzaku’s comment and marched over to Corvatz himself. “Sir, I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to turn back. The current strength of this boss is like nothing we’ve ever seen before. A strategy meeting is imperative!”
The aging Spanish man simply shook his head and pushed Nautilus away. “Aren’t you simply just going to steal all the glory for yourselves again? Not on my watch! The «Aincrad Liberation Force» is the main driving force behind the motivations of players holed up on the first floors! We must keep them motivated by clearing the floor ourselves!”
Asuna stretched her hand out and placed it on the man’s shoulder. “Sir, we insist that you stand down.”
Corvatz shook her off and yelled, “On towards the boss room! To victory!”
The cheer was repeated among the players although much more quiet considering that they were clearly more spent than their commander. Kirito sighed, “Should we tail them?”
“Probably…” Nautilus grunted.
Not even a moment after Kirito posed the question, Suzaku had already disappeared; words weren't needed for him. He absolutely would not let a commander’s idiocy kill his men. As such, no one noticed when he vanished. The pink-haired girl too followed in his footsteps, her more noticeable hair also evanescing with naught a breeze with the remaining group deciding to follow the fading footsteps of the reckless army. However, they stopped when a familiar voice yelled, “Hey! If it isn’t it my most favorite group of friends!”
Whirling around, Shiranami saw the lanky frame of a brown-haired bandanna-clad man whose teeth were showing in a winning smile. She also took note of the beautiful woman of slightly taller stature than Klein walking beside him. “Klein-san! Tomoe-san!”
“Well, well, look who it is!” he laughed. “Most famous player in SAO, Ayanami Shiratsuyu! Oh wait, I probably should have said ‘Shiranami’ instead…”
“Call me either one…” she sighed in reply, shrugging. “Not like I can garner any more attention than I already have.”
Klein then looked past her and trampled Kirito in a bear hug before snaking his way around him and using his knuckles to roughly scratch at his hair. “How’s my lone wolf doing?” He then turned to see Asuna and stopped. “Wait, why are you with the Flash?”
Asuna raised an eyebrow. “Are you saying that it is wrong of me to have partied up with Kirito?”
“Uh… No, not at all…” he stammered. He looked warily at his other guild members who all proceeded to be suddenly interested in anything but their guildmaster.
“Bahaha!” Tomoe cackled. “Now, now, Asuna-chan, I’d like it if you wouldn’t tease my husband so much. While I’m painfully aware of how much of an easy target he makes himself, I don’t think this is the time… That force earlier; were they the «Aincrad Liberation Force»?”
“Wait, the ALF is here?” Klein uttered incredulously.
Yuna, who had been silent during most of this exchange, said, “Yeah. They were talking about something crazy like clearing the floor on their own or something.”
“Wait, wait, wait, are they alright in the head?” Tomoe groaned. “That guild essentially retreated from the frontlines; there’s no way they have enough high-level players to face this boss.”
“Let’s go after them,” Klein immediately declared.
“That was the plan but…” Kirito started.
“We still need to conduct a strategy meeting,” Asuna said. “This boss seems to be far more difficult than any previous boss we’ve fought before.”
“In that case, who will join «Fuurinkazan»?” Nirrnir inquired, crossing her arms.
“I’ll volunteer,” Nautilus said. “Kirito, you should go with Asuna to report to the Commander. It shouldn’t take too long. If worse comes to worst, we’ll buy enough time for you to scramble a raid party.”
“Alright,” she replied. “I give you permission.”
Nautilus nodded and walked over to Klein, holding out his hand. “The name is Nautilus, vice-leader of Team B. Glad to work with you.”
Taken aback by this sudden formality, Klein stuttered in reply, “I-I’m Klein, guildmaster of Fuurinkazan.”
Tomoe slapped her husband on the back before she added, “Talking big, eh, Eiji?”
“Be quiet, Sensei,” he snapped back.
“Come on now, Ei-kun, you can’t bite back at Kiyo-sensei like that…” Yuna reprimanded.
“Bahaha, it’s all good, Yuna-chan. All teenage boys will act like this.”
Suddenly, the friendly banter halted when a loud scream resounded. Kirito yelped, “What was that?” Not even a second later, he received a ping from his menu. “… Tohka!? Wait, when did she disappear!?”
“Not the time, Kirito-kun!” Asuna said, deep worry spreading across her face. “What did she say!?”
Kirito stumbled slightly as he tried opening the message; he then read it. Color shrunk away from his face as he muttered, “… Not good.”
“What is it!?” Shiranami asked as she too began to slightly panic. Kirito didn't move his lips as he simply turned the air window around so everyone could read the message for themselves.
Suzaku charged. Boss raid started. Need help.
»»————- ♡♡♡♡♡♡ ————-««
The players soon arrived at the boss room and what they found was…
“Eyes on me, dammit!” It was hard to keep track of Suzaku's movements in the rather dark room, lit only by the fires around them; even when perfectly illuminated by the azure flames, he practically vanished without a trace. Like Tohka said, the young boy who went by Suzaku was a blockhead of immense proportions but he was smart in understanding his strengths and weaknesses. With how fast he was and how quickly he seemingly vanishes, the AI of this boss couldn’t keep up; after all, most other players would struggle in tracking Suzaku themselves.
He reappeared behind the boss for the seventeenth time and hacked away at high speed with his sword only to disappear again when the AI finally catches on and tries attacking him. The monster raised its massive sword to not only cut Suzaku but cleave him in half but it only caught the very ends of his midnight cloak. Very much like a conspiracy of ravens, Suzaku appeared to be only held together by darkness and was, therefore, intangible, however, the case was the same vice versa. Suzaku too couldn’t do enough damage to actually kill the boss; this was essentially a battle of attrition that Suzaku was guaranteed to lose as unlike him, the boss monster in front of him was a being with essentially unending stamina.
Kirito and the others arrived just in time to see Suzaku once again escape from the monster’s massive sword; the monster itself was facing away from them as Suzaku had lured it into looking in that direction. He then once again vanished, leaving behind a trail of cawing ravens before apparating behind the monster for his regular routine of shaving away HP; so far, in the five minutes or so since he’s started, he’s managed to scrape off 10% of the boss’s first HP bar with just his hit-and-run tactics. As he was about to attack, he felt a sharp whip-like thing strike his side. … Shit! The tail! he cursed to himself as he was slammed with the full force of the extremity and thrown into the wall. “Suzaku!” Kirito shouted.
“I’m fine!” he called back, sliding down the wall and landing in the blue fire which didn’t hurt him. Dammit, I thought I could ignore the tail! Even after I got on their case about underestimating this boss… I'm so stupid! Suzaku stood back up, inspecting his HP gauge and noted a loss of 7% of his HP to that one attack. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and hefted «Thorned Crucifix» which pulsed gently in his hand; to Suzaku, this is where the battle truly begins when both sides had drawn blood, however, the smile quickly faded when he saw the monster slash at Corvatz, roaring in disappointment at how it had lost its main target. Suzaku’s shout died in his throat as he watched the man get knocked back to Kirito’s feet at the entrance of the boss room…
Kirito looked down at the man who had just been tossed away like a discarded rag doll; his helmet’s durability reached zero, shattering in a colorful display and Kirito got a good look at the man’s face for the first time. The man slowly teared up as he muttered, “Im… possible…” Not long after, his face distorted before his whole body exploded into particles. The silence upon the others was as oppressing as if the weight of the sky was dropped on each of their backs. There have been no casualties for boss battles since the fifty-fourth floor and here they are: on the seventy-fourth floor facing an extremely powerful floor boss who had just managed to take the life of one person.
While they were contemplating, the boss had taken no interest in the new group and turned back around. “Hey, ugly! Over here!” Suzaku shouted, immediately getting up and charging at the boss; while he knew verbal taunts were useless against the boss's AI, he still had to try.
Snapping back to reality at Suzaku's insult, Kirito yelled at the men, “«Teleport Crystals»! Use them!”
“We can’t!” a soldier replied. “They don’t work!”
Kirito widened his eyes, his face looking gaunt in the eerie lighting of the room. It was as if he had just seen a ghost, recalling a past occurrence where he encountered a similar predicament… “No… An «Anti-Crystal Area»…? There was never a boss room with this yet…!”
His knee joints locked in fear which resulted in Shiranami tilting her head in confusion, however, she was beaten to the punch when Suzaku screamed, while attacking the boss with his sword glowing brightly under his sword skill, “Kazuto! Wake up!!”
Kirito once again returned to reality, blinking furiously, as he put aside the fear that had threatened to corrupt him. “Asuna, get them out of the boss room!”
“Yeah, I know!” Asuna nodded before drawing her sword. She then watched the boss lift its massive sword to decimate the rest of the soldiers; Suzaku too had fully gotten back into the action and was hitting the boss, however, it seemed to simply ignore him and was focused more on annihilating the weaklings.
“Oh no you don’t!!”
Despite Asuna having already drawn her sword and moving, Shiranami was faster as she had snapped herself. Strategy meeting or not, this boss has to be destroyed; there was no time to think. She drew her sword and used «Vorpal Strike», the blinding crimson light piercing into the room as she closed the distance between herself and the monster in a near-instant and rocketed directly into its back. The impressive jet engine-like sound of the sword skill snapped the fearful soldiers back to their senses as she shouted, “Run!” She then grunted in full satisfaction as she heard the boss wail from the sudden and powerful impact Shiranami had delivered. However, she wasn’t done just yet.
She had noticed that there was a small window in time before the end of a specific sword skill and the beginning of its post-motion delay. She wondered what would happen if she activated another sword skill during this short timespan and thinking that this was the best opportunity to test it, she poured more energy into her trusty sword, «Venetinova», yelling, “Sword Skill, «Vertical Square»!” The fading crimson light of Vorpal Strike was reignited into a searing blue-violet as she twisted her sword ninety degrees to the left within the monster’s body and slashed upwards, angled slightly to the left. She then yanked her blade out and slashed again from the top left to the right before rotating clockwise and slashing at the monster again from a slightly lower left point to the right. She kept her sword embedded deep within the monster’s lumbar area before corkscrewing it to the left ninety degrees and slashing upwards.
Meanwhile, Asuna caught up and unleashed «Crucifixion», slamming the monster with six high-speed thrusts tracing a cross ; the first three thrusts traced a line horizontally and the last three thrusts traced a line vertically. This allowed Shiranami the time needed to recover from her second sword skill’s post-motion delay; she yanked her sword out and retreated, however, Asuna was not so lucky. As she was caught in midair, she took on the full temperament of the boss as it angrily turned around. It swung its giant sword at her but Asuna had recovered enough to barely parry it away. Unfortunately, the brute force the monster attacked her with forced a spin in the air (which, if this was in any other situation would warrant laughter as the way Asuna was tossed away was truly comical) and she couldn’t avoid getting punched, sending her flying back. “Asuna!” Shiranami yelled, watching in disbelief as her HP dropped from a full bar to sixty percent of maximum value.
“Asuna!” Kirito echoed, charging into the room with his weapon drawn as the beast angrily raised its sword to deal the finishing blow against her. He leaped into the fray and flipped his handhold on the weapon, the blade facing out and back, as he ground the black sword’s edge against the monster’s giant blade, propelling it off-course ever so slightly which was just barely enough perturbation to completely miss the disabled Asuna by around three centimeters. “Scram!” he ordered, jolting Asuna into realizing that her post-motion delay had long since ended; she hopped to her feet and retreated.
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Klein muttered something about his luck before running into the room as well, keeping his katana sheathed as he knew that, for now, he wouldn’t be able to put up much of a fight. Tomoe on the other hand drew her naginata as she ordered her guidmates to follow Nautilus and Yuna who skirted around the edge of the room while Kirito, Asuna, Suzaku, and Shiranami kept the boss distracted. Klein then got himself under a soldier who clearly couldn’t get up on his own and offered him his shoulder. “Alright, guys, you’re fine now. I got you!”
The delirious soldier mumbled, “Maria, is that you…?”
Horribly disgusted but not willing to show it, Klein simply stated, “Uh, kiss me and I’ll drop you.” Klein and his guildmates picked them up and ran outside the boss room, skirting the walls again so as to not draw aggro. Dropping them outside the room and giving them healing crystals, Klein ordered his guildmates as well as Nautilus and Yuna to watch over them; Klein and Tomoe alongside Tohka who was also assisting in recovering the traumatized soldiers ventured back into the boss room. “Hey, Shiranami!”
Sensing that this was going to be of some importance, Shiranami momentarily stepped back from the fray and replied, “What?”
“That thing you just did,” he said. “Was that «Skill Connect»?”
She tilted her head in confusion. “The… what?”
He sighed. “You know that thing you just did? Connecting «Vorpal Strike» to «Vertical Square»?”
“Oh, that? Yeah, what about it?”
Klein nodded. “Yeah, it is apparently a non-system-managed skill.”
“Oh-ho?”
“Yeah, you’re supposed to ‘feel’ for it since there is actually a small window in time between the post-motion delay and the end of the sword skill itself,” he elaborated. “Activating a second sword skill in that window allows you to bypass the delay and enter directly into the next sword skill.”
“How do you know about it?” she asked.
“Well, uh… It’s because I accidentally discovered its functions on the tenth floor but I had to go through a lot of trial and error to finally master it.”
“Hoh, I see. Indeed, I've felt the weird gap myself; that was the first time I tried experimenting with it in real combat.”
“Goodness, Shiranami-chan, that's kinda…”
“That's enough for now, Dear," Tomoe said, landing a soft karate chop on Klein's head.
“Ow,” he groaned. “Fine, fine, I was just getting into it.”
Nirrnir, who had remained silent, finally spoke up, her sword leaving its sheath for the first time. “Well, we have all assembled. What is the plan?”
Suzaku took a moment to end his attack for the purpose of falling back to stand side by side with his comrades; he also lowered his hood, inspecting himself. Part of his attire was damaged with several red lines having cut themselves across his back and arms. “It's tough but manageable; we have to keep it confused with drawing its aggro to the fastest of us and attack the openings with everyone else while the decoys pull its attention.”
“That’s a pretty good plan coming from you, Shin-kun,” Tohka said, taking her place at his side with «Sakurafubuki» drawn.
“Wow, I'm getting fonder of verbal abuse… Dunno what that says about me.” Suzaku's expression slacked into a weird half-smile as he chuckled self-deprecatingly; he once again covered his head with his hood before adding, “My sword's parameters are up about twenty-five, I should be able to do serious damage if someone gives me an opening.” «Thorned Crucifix» was a weapon with a very fitting name as it was a black cross fashioned into a sword which consumed his life force in exchange for power. It had been his partner since the fifty-second floor and is only now beginning to plateau in terms of its stats in comparison with the levels of monsters.
Asuna popped open a potion and chugged it down, intending on recovering the HP she had lost from the boss’ sharp attack; she had also splendidly ignored Suzaku’s outlandish statement. “Well, out of all of us, Shira-chan, Suzaku-kun, and Nirrnir-san are the fastest.”
“Fine by me,” Shiranami asserted. “I’ll act as your decoy.”
“No, I'll be the opening act,” Suzaku asserted. “I’ve already figured out most of its attack patterns and associated timings. I’ll strike with «Deadly Sins» if someone can distract the boss for a sec.” It would be pretty close but he knew how long that skill took to perform; if he includes the post-motion delay in his calculations, he had enough time to use the skill and escape assuming someone keeps the boss distracted. He already had five minutes alone with «The Gleam Eyes» which was more than enough time for him to learn its patterns. Having already spent the better part of two years inside of SAO, he wouldn’t have earned such a reputation as a solo player if he couldn’t do this much.
“In that case, I shall sally forth,” Tohka said. «Sakurafubuki» blazed electric purple as she returned her sword to its sheath before stepping forward. As if lightning had struck, a sizable gash opened up in the boss’s side.
“Tohka-kun!?” Klein yelped. “«Zekkuu» is far too dangerous of an option to use here!” He followed up Tohka’s technique with the three-part «Renge», opening three more wounds in the boss before it could bring down its massive sword on the frozen Tohka.
“Not to worry, Klein-san,” Tohka said, smiling softly. “After all, he is already here.”
“God, I love that woman.” Letting out a light cackle, Suzaku’s relaxed smile melted away as he vanished. In a flash, he reappeared behind «The Gleam Eyes» with a wide grin plastered on his face while he initiated his favorite sword skill. Okay, this may be pretty dangerous since it’s only us but at least we get to have fun, he thought. As his sword began to glow a pure imperial red, evoking the image of Napoleon’s standard during his conquest of Europe, a strange authority leaked from this blade and Suzaku let that feeling take over his body. His body moved at great speeds, unleashing a seven-part combo. Just before the post-motion delay kicked in, Suzaku stepped back to recover at Tohka’s side. “Thanks for the assist, Tohka.”
“Not a problem, Shin-kun,” Tohka replied to a minor gust of wind as Suzaku had once again disappeared.
“Show-off,” Kirito grumbled as he took note of the boss’ HP gauge; it was currently sitting at thirty-seven percent of its first HP bar. He then charged forward himself, catching the boss’ swing of his blade against his sword. “Goddamn, this is freaking heavy!” Cursing under his breath, he somehow managed to shove the boss’ sword off of him before bringing his sword over his shoulder; forest green light spilled from his sword as he dashed forward, leaping into the air and landing a cut into the boss’ shoulder. “Asuna!”
“I’m coming—” Asuna started.
“Hoh, impressive,” Tomoe commented, standing in quite the relaxed stance as she observed her students fight; she figured it would be fine to let the young ones show off a bit. “Quite an interesting choice with «Sonic Leap».”
“Hey, now, do not disregard me.” Nirrnir stepped forward, brandishing her favored sword which happened to be the only blade she has ever wielded, the «Doleful Nocturne». Her crimson eyes began glowing as she channeled power into the blade. As the special weapon of a vampire, the sword, which was of magnificent platinum and gold construction, blazed red. A gust of wind blew into existence with Nirrnir as its source, lifting her sundress and blonde hair in its currents. The white jewel of the sword's pommel blazed crimson before rising through the blade, cutting through the center and melting away the silver hue into a midnight black. “How about this?”
As she swung her sword, a blade of red energy split off from the sword and flew at the boss. Striking the boss’ right shoulder, the arm in which it held its weapon, the energy mercilessly continued through the boss, removing its massive arm from the rest of the body. The arm, now detached, flew through the air. “Kirito, tuck and roll!” Shiranami shouted.
“Oh shi—” He immediately ducked and rolled under the boss’ legs to return to a stance at Suzaku’s side who had just moments prior halted his assault.
“‘Sup, bro?”
“A little warning next time, Nirrnir-sama!?” Kirito complained.
“And you call me a show-off…” Suzaku observed, half smiling.
“Oy, that was all her, dude,” Kirito sighed.
“Yeah, yeah, Just try to keep the lovers’ quarrel for the afterparty.”
Just before Kirito could retort, the monster released a great howl. “GROOAR!!” Hatred burned in the eyes of the boss as it balefully glared at Nirrnir; she simply grinned in reply, the winds that had earlier loved her gently dissipating as if earnestly waiting for when they are called again. Her single attack had erased whatever was left of the boss’ first HP bar, indicating the end of the first phase of the boss fight. Its dismembered arm finally disappeared leaving its massive sword stuck in the ground.
No sooner had it did…
“Scatter!” Shiranami yelled as she bolted to her left. Everyone immediately understood and took off in either direction; after all, when Shiranami sensed danger, she was always on point. It was truly like an ESP and it was given the name of «Precognition». Like «Skill Connect», it was a non-system managed skill, otherwise known as an «Outside System Skill»; thanks to Shiranami’s senses, the energy sphere that the boss monster had so suddenly unleashed failed to catch anyone within it outside of sending blasts of wind in the dodging players’ directions.
“Sheesh, this guy won’t let up,” Kirito grumbled, recovering from his evasive maneuver. “So, what’s the plan now? We’ve entered phase two thanks to Nirrnir-sama’s attack.”
Suzaku’s gaze shifted a bit as he focused his attention on the weapon of their enemy even while heeding Shiranami’s warning. He continued staring at the weapon even after the boss retrieved it with its remaining arm thanks to the time it brought by forcing the players to evade its attack. This boss… It seems like all of its abilities are built around the weapon! Just like him— “Kazuto! Remember Kagachi?”
Kirito’s gaze followed Suzaku’s as he noticed his friend’s fixation on the sword. “… Oho. That could potentially work here. Unless we’re being deceived, this boss doesn’t seem to have any other weapon aside from that massive zanbato.”
“Could definitely work,” Shiranami asserted.
“Well, either way, retreat isn’t an option,” Asuna said. “So, how will we do that?”
“Like this!” Kirito answered the rhetorical question by running around the boss which had finally begun renewing its assault on them and meeting its snake-like tail which had earlier injured Suzaku. He raised his sword, channeling pale purple light, and severed the boss’ tail right at the base; the boss roared in agony and instinctively stuck its foot out backwards, in a soccer-like maneuver. Kirito managed to scramble out of the way just in time to avoid getting drop-kicked directly into the wall, watching in triumph as the severed tail hit the ground and burst into nonexistence. “I’m not taking any chances especially after Shinya got slammed with it earlier; now, how do we handle that gigantic weapon of his…”
Shiranami scrutinized Kirito and Suzaku, who had been their frontliners, and noted the number of cuts that the monster’s sword had given them; she also took note of their HP gauges which sat at around ninety and eighty, respectively. “At this rate, it’s going to be a battle of attrition…” she muttered. “Kirito, I’ll place myself in a support role; you, Suzaku-senpai, and Tomoe-sensei currently have the strongest DPS. I’ll do whatever I can to buff you!”
“Verily, princess,” Tomoe nodded, taking on a jokingly respectful tone and eliciting a sharp glare from Shiranami which Tomoe smoothly brushed off.
“Sounds like fun,” Suzaku smirked. “I'm going for that sword but that's definitely gonna get its attention. I can dodge well enough, you guys just focus on the openings I'll make.”
“Alright!” Kirito finalized. “Sensei, are you fine with being the rearguard?”
“Not a problem,” she replied. “I’m completely fine with protecting your back. After all, you two are my precious students.”
With that, Shiranami began to sing. With her voice, she selected the buffs she wanted to place on her friends: «Damage Cut (Lvl. 10)», «ATK Increase (Lvl. 10)», «ATK SPD Increase (Lvl. 10)», «HP Regeneration (Lvl. 10)», and «All-Attribute Increase (Lvl. 10)». With that, she had already filled up all sixty possible “slots” she was allocated for buffing; with the exception of «All-Attribute Increase» which took twenty, the other four took ten. She took a short breather to say, “Okay, you guys should be good! I’ll keep singing to keep it up for as long as possible!”
“Man, I can see why so many people go crazy for this voice,” Kirito muttered before finishing his musings in his mind: It’s no wonder she’s loved by so many people. Of course, that would include myself and Asuna… The boss, which had earlier managed to retrieve its massive blade, swung its remaining arm down with the intention of crushing both Kirito and Suzaku; clicking his tongue, Kirito yelled, “Okay, Shinya, you take the left; I’ll strike from the right!”
“On it!” Sidestepping the downward swing, Suzaku too clicked his tongue as the very edges of his cloak were caught by the sword and sheared them off. “Hey, swamp boy, c’mon! I thought you were able to kill a person, not a coat!” As he reached the «The Gleam Eyes», Suzaku’s smile grew upon feeling the effect of Shiranami’s buffs take over, spinning the sword in a rather flashy manner as its attention remained on Kirito. The sword, it’s just a giant hunk of steel, so its weak point is right here! Bringing the sword down once more, a glow came across the black cross and he took full advantage of it, striking at an exposed point, just below the guard.
As if a giant gong was struck, the resounding echo of steel colliding with steel rippled through both the boss and Suzaku. Seeing this, Kirito focused on his sword and a surge of pure night erupted from its blade; with a fierce look in his eyes, he slashed at the boss’ exposed side as it had no arm in the way. Five rays of blackness cut themselves into the boss’ hide as Kirito yelled, “You’re gonna need several passes, Shinya! I hope you realize that!”
“Yeah, but it’s more fun; besides, I may be getting something cool from its remains.” His sword, sporting a more violent glow compared to Kirito’s, quickly settled back down as he gauged the boss’ rage before vanishing once more. “A boss fight with you is never boring, Kii-bou~.” Grinning, he left that final comment as he appeared beside his friend before again disappearing; this time, he had done so with the full assistance of his «Hiding» skill.
“Oh my—” Kirito started. “Where the hell did you learn that nickname!?” He stepped away from the boss himself as he recovered from the post-motion delay of «Still Weight», the sword skill he had just used. “Argh, fine, whatever! Just keep striking!”
“Aha, those two are always full of energy,” Tomoe giggled, her voice taking on a nostalgic tone. Of course, this was only because she was working as the school nurse at the public school both Kirito and Suzaku attended in reality. She was familiar with those two… perhaps far more than anyone else in this game. “Now…” She readied her naginata, «Shisekiyojin», as she charged into the fray herself. The tip of her spear blazed verdant and if one took a deep breath, it was as if one could smell leaves in the wind. In no time, Tomoe closed the distance and shot out her naginata three times before stepping back and bracing herself; she then delivered a fourth strike, powerful enough to bring down the second HP bar to just under forty percent. The boss too was sent flying with that immensely strong thrust and Tomoe planted her naginata on the ground as she froze up. “Well then, that should be enough. The two of you should suffice for the rest.”
“«Clover Strike», is it?” Kirito wondered.
“I’m surprised you’re familiar with it.”
“Well, it’s really just background knowledge…” Kirito then returned his attention to the boss.
“I traded the story about you during our first year in junior high for some info on a certain floor boss,” Suzaku quipped as he reappeared. “It got me my current sword so I’m definitely not complaining.” He then turned to Tomoe. “That’s some insane knockback though, Sensei… Is it from experience?”
“My, surely you would know having experienced it personally,” she replied, a dangerous glint playfully shining in her eyes.
“Haha—” Suzaku’s smile lost its glamor as he quickly turned pale; he stumbled slightly before recollecting himself. “Suddenly, I’m a bit scared about going back to school again…”
“Now, now, don’t worry, I’ll still be your school nurse~!”
“That’s all fun and games and all but here it comes!” Kirito shouted as the boss regained its balance from Tomoe’s knockback. If anything, he wanted to grill his friend and demand he spill everything concerning what he’s told to Argo but he simply doesn’t have time for such frivolity at the moment.
Shiranami, focused on her singing, was unable to comment but she looked on with pride. I suppose classmates like those two would be able to synchronize like that… Then again, Asuna and I were classmates too. She glanced at the girl in question who had a rather difficult expression on her face; she was busy thinking on how best to provide support because even for those two, it would be exceedingly arduous to take on a boss with just themselves.
“Sheesh, can’t even jump in to provide support,” Klein quipped.
“Well, it’s those two after all,” Tohka giggled. “They may be from different classes but they certainly were still great friends and great rivals; they are more in sync than they’d like to admit. Sensei would know.”
As if to provide confirmation for Tohka’s sentiments, Kirito yelled, “Shinya, up!” He then dashed forward, making a beeline for the boss’ legs. “Hey, goat crap, over here!”
“Hell yeah!” Suzaku's hood flew off in the wind from the great force of his sprint, with an expression that betrayed his most excited state yet; he had noted Kirito’s plan, quickly picking up on what he wanted him to do… at least, what he thought Kirito was suggesting. Time to go up! The boss roared as it made a giant sweep with its sword. Suzaku's eyes remained heavy with his focus, even with how much he enjoyed this battle, it was a true fight to the death and every failure mattered. I'm going straight for the top! As he watched the swing, he leaped in time before slamming his foot down onto the massive metal blade; the timing needed for this feat was absurd but speed was certainly his greatest weapon, vaulting higher as he quickly entered a specific stance for his sword skill. A blood red aura exploding as he felt the system take over, practically dragging him into the air and landing on the shoulders of this beast— his «Thorned Crucifix» now buried hilt deep in the monster's face, the snout of this goat demon being the new resting place for his sword as a mad laugh came from the teenage boy; his face was clearly slack with pure excitement and joyful ecstasy continuously leaked from the boy like an endless spring.
Kirito’s interjection died in his throat as he watched in disbelief at Suzaku’s reckless maneuver. He then remembered his job and summoned azure light to his black sword, quickly slashing four times into the boss’ left leg. While it wasn’t enough to remove it, it was most certainly enough to get the boss to stagger. Combined, the two boys’ attacks were enough to eliminate the rest of the second HP bar. Kirito then fell back as he asked, “Dude! I thought you were gonna hit the chest, not the face!”
“Yeah, well, you should've made that clearer! ‘Go up’ isn’t really an accurate instruction!” Suzaku's grip shifted, watching «The Gleam Eyes» closer than he would prefer and pulling on his sword; he had already recovered from the freeze and was quickly removing his blade from the monster's face. He then fell back and nestled himself at his friend’s side.
Tomoe raised both of her hands and landed two perfect chops on the heads of her students. “That might have worked but seriously, you two. That was reckless even for you guys.”
“Ow!? It worked though!”
“Hey! It totally worked!”
Albeit with different inflections, the two boys still answered at the exact same time which elicited a giggle from Tohka. “Look, see, I did tell you they were in sync.”
““Whaddaya mean we’re in sync!?””
“Ufu,” Tohka snickered. “In any case, we’ve entered the latter half of the raid… I’m surprised it’s gone this well.”
“That's true,” Suzaku nodded. “I’ll be focusing my firepower onto the weapon again.”
“Judging from the durability of Kagachi's weapon, I’d say two or three more passes would be enough to destroy it,” Kirito predicted. “It’s definitely hardier than Kagachi’s but at the same time, our levels are also that much higher so I should be right.”
“Alright, sounds good.” While the boss was ‘preparing’ for the next phase, Suzaku gave a few test swings of his sword, recalling what he did during the boss raid against Kagachi before whispering to himself a command phrase. “Boil, my infernal blood.” What he just activated was a unique combination of runes engraved into his blade: «Blood Hunter», a rune so far exclusive to his «Thorned Crucifix», allowed him to grow more powerful the lower his HP was while despite being one of the most basic runes, the fully coded «Firebrand» rune on his sword allowed him to synthesize a new rune, «Infernal Blood». With this rune active, his crossed sword began heating up as the metal burned red hot before bursting into flame, its solitary color evoking the image of a god of fire.
“That’s pretty cool,” Kirito whistled. “Well, since I don’t have the skill properly leveled…” He turned to Asuna who smoothly pulled out a «Aerosplitter» talisman and invoked the spell on Kirito’s sword. “This’ll do for now. Let’s move, Shinya!”
Suzaku looked at Kirito with a nod. “Yeah!” Taking a longer swing, a trail of crimson fire began to follow the arc of his blade which proceeded to interact with the blue fire dancing around in the boss room, the two distinctly colored flames mixing to form an eerie purple glow which dyed the faces of both Kirito and Suzaku in a mystical shade as the latter charged «The Gleam Eyes».
Kirito, meanwhile, chose to go around; he wanted to strike the leg in which he had earlier slammed with «Horizontal Square» again. “Try not to attack its head this time, Shinya! It will probably—no, it most definitely—will be protecting it!”
“Good, that means the sword’s gonna be exposed!” In a swift motion, Suzaku’s sword began to glow once more as his fire began to overflow. Like before, both the boss and Suzaku met each other’s heavy swings and Suzaku’s sword tore into the exposed metal, producing a violent clang! that echoed through the room.
Nice! Kirito thought in his head as the boss staggered onto its bad leg. “Take this!” He layered a second «Horizontal Square» over the first. Again, it wasn’t enough to remove the leg but this time, the boss finally fell onto its behind. “Shinya, one more time!”
“Right!” Suzaku suddenly vanished in response to Kirito’s voice as the boss flailed its massive sword in a poor attempt to counterattack only for the flames of Suzaku’s blade to once again carve its way through the sword. Unfortunately, it still did not give way and Suzaku clicked his tongue. It's definitely a pain in the ass but…! Just one more!
Suddenly, Shiranami yelled, “GET BACK!”
“Wha—” Kirito failed to react in time as he was backhanded with enough force to knock both the wind and his consciousness out of him. He only realized he had been thrown away like a ragdoll when he slammed into the perimeter of the room. Jolted awake, Kirito cursed his bad luck as he eyed his HP gauge.
“Kazuto!?” Suzaku shouted. He turned back to the boss which then attacked him at a speed that it didn’t manifest before. “Damn—!” He managed to plant himself in place but was forced back a few meters. Shiranami shouted another warning and he instinctively dove out of the way as the boss unleashed another one of its breath attacks only this time, it seemed to ignite the room itself; he suddenly found himself and Tohka separated from the others.
“Tsk, a last-ditch stat increase?” Tomoe growled. “Suzaku, don’t you dare let your guard down!” She brandished her naginata as white light coalesced around her speartip before she disappeared to stab her weapon through the boss’ hide.
“Didn’t plan on it!” Suzaku’s grip tightened once more on his sword as he glanced at Tohka for a moment. “We're breaking that damned sword.” Tohka simply nodded for a reply and after a moment, Suzaku dug his heel in, charging the boss as he waited for the timing on its attack patterns, readying himself to destroy its sword to ensure that there were no more deaths. While he wasn’t hit by the backhand that Kirito was struck with, he was still buffeted by the airblast from that attack and on top of the damage he received from the boss’ subsequent breath attack, Suzaku’s health was teetering in quite the danger zone despite Shiranami’s buffs; his sword, knowing nothing but increasing its master’s power in exchange for lost blood, flared violently as the flames burned brighter than before. It easily overrode the blue flames making up the barrier and surrounding him in a sunlike halo. Considering he was already entering the red, he once again poured his efforts into his stealth as he charged the boss and struck its giant sword with «Sonic Leap». He ended up on the other side of the boss as he growled, “Dammit, I thought that was gonna break it! That stat increase must’ve amped the durability of the sword to seriously stupid levels!”
Nirrnir, being on the other side of the special flame barrier the boss had so suddenly conjured, gathered her power into her sword again as she released her second swipe in the fight (as she had chose to sit out and watch when Kirito and Suzaku decided to take point together). “A gift from the night ruler.” With her senses, she was able to pick out her target even through the flame barrier, however, the boss had somehow managed to detect her attack coming and positioned itself so the attack struck its good leg instead of its bad leg as Nirrnir intended.
“Not enough!” Tohka yelped. She charged her sword with power as the temperature in the room dropped to zero. “«Zekkuu»!” She dashed forward and struck the boss’ bad leg and instantly froze it in place, ice crystals rapidly growing from the red gash she had opened in the leg.
“Thanks, Tohka-san!” Kirito yelled. “I’ll take it from here!” Kirito had taken the time while he was against the wall to change his currently equipped skills; it was clear from how the battle was progressing that they were not going to survive if he kept his trump card in reserve. With his own HP hovering in the upper reaches of the red despite Shiranami’s regeneration buffs, Kirito dashed forward and the monster responded with a great roar as it swiped its blade at Kirito, fully intending to bisect him. However, with «Elucidator» in his right hand, Kirito parried away the giant blade away from him, managing to do so since the frozen leg reduced the overall amount of power the boss can put into its swing; everyone watched in awe as Kirito let out a battle cry of his own and reached behind his back. In a bright flash of light, a scabbard materialized on its back, its blue blade protected within; with conviction, Kirito grabbed this second sword, drew it, and slammed the giant sword away with his two swords before suddenly, both of his blades glowed pale yellow and the boss’ blade suddenly shattered.
“Wha—!?” Shiranami began, her abject surprise enough to make her forget to continue singing. Everyone watched speechlessly as Kirito proudly held two swords in his hands. While the others could not be blamed for not knowing, Shiranami knew Kirito was predominantly right-handed but she didn’t know that he also had the acquired ability of ambidexterity. She herself was ambidextrous although, like Kirito, she was predominantly right-handed, having acquired the skill through her idol work.
Kirito wasted no time in attacking the boss again as it was momentarily stunned from losing its weapon (perhaps a detrimental status effect). “Okay…” he muttered. “Sword Skill, «Starburst Stream».” Both of his blades, one midnight black the other turquoise blue, glowed a deep aquamarine. He began attacking the boss in a flurry of slashes. His hands flew across the air as he delivered one strike, two strikes, four strikes, eight strikes. His movements were unimaginably graceful as he twirled on his feet to attack more. However, the boss was also dealing damage against him; despite missing an arm and having its main weapon destroyed, it was still fully intent on killing Kirito. Halfway through his attack frenzy, the demon landed a solid punch on him. There wasn’t enough power in it to break his stance but it was enough to anger Kirito into increasing the speed of his attacks.
At the speed Kirito was attacking at, the only ones who could see anything and count the number of strikes were few; this included Shiranami, Tomoe, and Suzaku (Nirrnir is an exception due to her supernatural constitution). From their differing points of observation, there were sixteen attacks in total. The first attack was a horizontal strike with his right sword followed by an upward slash with his left before spinning in a circle and striking horizontally with both swords. He repeated this movement then slashed two ‘X’s in opposite directions: up and down. He followed up with a top right-down left slash with his left sword and top-left down-right slash with his right sword then attacking in the ‘X’ fashion again, both up and down. He then traced a square with his next four attacks using both swords: slashing left-right, up-down, right-left, down-up. He ended his assault with a full-powered thrust with both swords before lunging back to deliver another full-power strike, this time with only his right sword.
The boss went silent as Kazuto’s final thrust with his left blade impaled its abdomen. Exploding into particles, the silence that befell the room was exceedingly oppressing. With no warning, the eerie quiet was shattered by the appearance of a single sign, one that appeared in the air three meters above and four meters ahead of Kirito. There was but one single word on it.
Congratulations!
“Is… Is it over…?” Kirito’s soft voice gently trailed away from his lips as if it was a final sigh. Indeed, both Asuna and Shiranami yelped as he teetered on his feet before his balance finally failed him and he collapsed to the floor.